It won't make or break anything. It'll be a good soft if you have the numbers to back it up, but Yale is notoriously difficult to predict. A 178/4.0 is still no guarantee into the bastion of Yale. A 178/4.0 with a published thesis would help, but it still might not be enough.

Ultimately, when it comes to a place like Yale, all you can do is put together a quality package, with polished essays all around, strong resume and numbers to back it up, and...pray. Your thesis won't be THE difference-maker, but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

It would definitely add to the "academic excellence" package. It could also lead to a better letter of recommendation from your thesis advisor. Yale cares about all of these things. But that doesn't mean it will "make or break" you.

scoobers wrote:Thanks! That's kind of what I figured, but I'm surprised you said a thesis would be a good soft. Maybe I'm just cynical but I was putting it more under "student government/a few cool internships" level.

I suppose I can always apply twice and see what happens :/. I would be that weirdo who has only "YALE: REJECT" on LSN.

Please understand: a published piece DOES NOT set you apart. It's a good thing, and it certainly won't hurt you, but don't take it to mean that Yale will shout it from the rooftops that one of their applicants was published in a random journal.

As I said before, this is the type of thing Yale looks for, but it's not on the order of the amazing softs Yale might forgive less than stellar numbers for. Long story short: as always, don't worry about whether your softs are good enough. Let Yale worry about that.